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For all you competitive players, and even for you casual players, here is a thread where you can post your results from any tournaments you've been and participated in recently.

Rules & Guidelines

Do not post bogus results or pretend to be someone you're not.

Try to use more than 20 words to describe your tournament results.

Be aware that by posting what Official tournament you went to AND the place you finished in, you may be giving away your real name and location, so do try to refrain from mentioning both unless you don't care.

What a great idea! I've been waiting for my first tournament of the season so I could finally make my report
Unfortunately I only went 3-3 and placed 19/47 at the first city championship, so this will be more of a report on the various decks I saw and how they were played. I was expecting a lot of zekrom, which I got, but there was a lot of variety in the builds and there were decks I didn't expect to see at all as well.

City Championship - December 2011
Tyranitar/Donphan/Zoroark
My deck suffers from being a stage 2 deck, meaning it doesn't always get set up in time, but it held its own surprisingly well. Tyranitar is a beast that almost nothing can one-hit and can do 120 damage when set up properly (mine always does 140 because I only run special dark). And donphan is an excellent choice for this metagame because it hits so many pokemon for weakness, and is fast on top of that. Zoroark is always a good tech, as it still handles zekrom, reshiram, yanmega, emboar, and any heavy-hitting attacker whose damage output you can turn against itself.

Round 1 was against a zekrom/magnezone/eelektric deck. ZPS (zekrom, pachirisu, shaymin) was the first incarnation of the speedy zekrom deck, and that was what I expected to see at this tournament, hence why I was running donphan. It turned out that a lot of people had already outgrown pachirisu and shaymin, and were instead using eelektric's ability to attach electric energy from the discard to their benched zekroms. Though it is far more consistent to be bringing energy from your discard directly onto your pokemon every turn rather than whenever you get all four cards needed in ZPS, the fact that it only attaches to the bench provides somewhat of a barrier. This person had magnezone attacking with the benched pokemon receiving the energy from eelektric, because magnezone's lost burn does damage based on energy discarded from any pokemon. Unfortunately, it auto-loses even harder to donphan than ZPS does because all of the pokemon are weak to fighting, and even magnezone is one-shot by donphan with only one plus power. Donphan brought me through that game 1-0

Round 2 I faced the classic leafeon UD/roserade UL deck, and this one included a hypno HGSS tech. Roserade and leafeon are really meant for eachother; with a rainbow energy, you can activate both aspects of roserade's poke-power and inflict both poison and confusion on your opponent. Leafeon then does 50x the number of special conditions on the defending pokemon, which means that with one rainbow energy and one grass on leafeon, you can do 100 damage. Hypno then has the potential to add sleep to the mix, giving leafeon 150 damage to deal, but you have to flip a coin for it. The problem with leafeon is that it is simply too frail at 90HP, and you won't have the perfect conditions to inflict damage every turn, which means you fall behind in the prize exchange. If you don't get your rainbow energy, leafeon has to resort to soothing scent which only does 30 damage and inflicts sleep. A fully-loaded donphan heavy impacts for knock out every turn, which is how i got to 2-0

Round 3 was one of the more interesting decks, and one I hadn't seen before. It was also donphan, but all the other pokemon in the deck were the three dragons, zekrom, reshiram, and kyurem. We both started out building a donphan, which was routine enough. Then he started filling up the bench with dragons and I was like what is this deck?? The strategy is to start with the quick-hitting donphan and dole out a steady 60 damage while slowly taking earthquake damage to your bench, 10 at a time. Then the dragons come in late game, when they have decent damage all around, and use outrage with a double colourless energy. Because they are all a different type, you send out whichever one is fitting for your situation and hopefully hit for weakness. There was also rainbow energy to stuff extra damage onto the dragons and to attack with their second attacks if need be. It was a really cool deck, and I lost to it when he got his donphan set up before me and used rocky helmet where I didn't. My only hope was to use tyranitar's megaton tail to one-shot his pokemon, but I couldn't get the energy set up because he was too fast. 2-1

Round 4 was another cool deck, mew/magnezone/eelektric. The goal was to start mew and see off a magnezone prime, then set up as many eelektrics as possible while discarding all your electric energy, and having them use their ability to bring the energy back onto themselves so mew could use magnezone's lost burn for 50x the number of energy you then discard from the eelektrics. It's a quick, straight-forward deck that has the potential to do a lot of damage, depending on how many eelektrics you get set up. The problems it has include the fact that, at 60HP, mew prime is knocked out by anything, and eelektrics are easy targets for picking off when facing donphan, which is exactly what happened. I was surprised though, with only 3 energy on the field he was able to do 150 damage and did take down a lot of my tanks. Overall, however, mew is just too frail and eelektrics are vulnerable to donphan. 3-1

Round 5 is where my good record ends! This matchup was tough. It was a zekrom deck, which is normally great for donphan, but it had a really crucial donphan counter: tornadus. Tornadus takes -20 damage from donphan due to resistance, which means that your donphan with only 1 energy which was about to knock out zekrom with a plus power is now doing only 40 damage to a tornadus which can reciprocate with 60 damage to you. I think rocky helmet is a really good asset in this matchup, as it tacks on that extra 20 damage so that you are at least within 2-shot KO range instead of 3-shot. I never thought to put it in before seeing some donphans running it at the tournament, though, so I went without. Zekrom and tornadus work really well together, because with a double colourless on tornadus you can attach an electric energy each turn to attack for 80, and then move that electric onto zekrom as it requires you move a basic energy to your bench, thereby reusing your resources to set up your zekroms. It seemed like I had a chance early game, but I whiffed on energy for several turns and fell too far behind in the end. 3-2

Round 6, the final round. I was going against a zekrom/magnezone/eelektric/terrakion deck, just another of the many zekrom variations floating around. The deck operated like a normal magnezone/eelekric deck, bringing up electric energy from the discard and piling them onto the bench to power up lost burn. Terrakion proved to be a very useful tech, as it not only hit my tyranitar for weakness but also covers the mirror matchup as well. The game was very close, with us going into sudden-death and my missing the win by only 1 damage counter while he picked up the win on the next turn. I think it proved how critical it is to be prepared for the mirror, as it was the only zekrom deck I played that seemed to have an electric counter (that I saw), and given that the metagame is oversaturated with electric decks, I think it would be a really useful tech. Anyway, I lost this last round and ended 3-3

In a way, the metagame seems to have a little more variety than it usually does. People love the energy acceleration of eelektric, and they're coming up with lots of creative ways of utilizing it. Declining in popularity was reshiboar and megazone, the former of which I saw none at all. Kyurem is rapidly gaining in popularity, however, and the dragon trio is quite an interesting strategy to pull off.

This is a bit late, as one of the tournaments I went to was held on the 17th, but was still a good day for me. I placed in 4th out of around 34 in the Masters division using Reshiphlosion. I don't remember all of the details, but I will try to remember what I can.

Round 1
vs. Zekrom/Pachirisu/Shaymin/Druddigon

Yeah, my opponent elected to use Druddigon rather than Tornadus and also ran an Unown (Dark) as well. Anyways, I remember the game starting in his favor, but he ran out of resources, allowing me to come back and win.
1-0

Round 2
vs. Reshiphlosion

We both started with a lone Cyndaquil, and my opponent went first. Both of us attacked with our Cyndaquils our first turns. On his second turn, he Collectors for Reshirams and Cyndaquil, evolves his active Cyndaquil into Quilava, and leaves my Cyndaquil with 20 HP. Fortunately, I had Rare Candy and Typhlosion in my opening hand, so I'm able to evolve into Typhlosion, used a Sage's Training to put a Fire Energy in my discard pile, used Afterburner and my normal attachment and KO'd his Quilava. I think the game went back and forth for a little while, but I ultimately won.
2-0

Round 3
vs. Reshiphlosion

I came to this tournament with a group of four others, and I played one of them in this round. Unfortunately for me, my opponent led early, and never looked back.
2-1

Round 4
vs. Chandelure

3 words to describe this game: this game stunk! Basically, my opponent got a Vileplume AND not one but TWO Chandelure and a Dodrio out by turn 3. After Vileplume came out, I drew nothing but Trainers! Talk about a horrible game!
2-2

Round 5
vs. Mew/Zoroark/Kyurem/?????

I honestly can't remember much about this game other than I managed to win somehow. His Kyurem were actually a nonfactor in this game, surprisingly.
3-2

I knew I needed to win this next game in order to even have a shot at the top 8, so I tried to focus on this next game.

Round 6
vs. Cincinno/Zoroark/Umbreon/Weavile

I don't remember much about this game other than it went into the three extra turns. We both had one prize left after the third turn (which was my opponent's), so we kept playing until the next prize was drawn. On my first turn after the three, I literally Junipered for the last six cards in my deck in order to Catcher up a benched Cleffa for the win. Talk about a close one! If my last Junk Arm was prized, I would have lost for sure!
4-2

They announce the standings, and I just barely made it in the top 8! (I literally came in 8th!) I find out that I'm playing the first seed, who happens to be a really good player and has won many tournaments in the past. I also found out that three of the four other people I was with also made it in!

Top 8, Game 1
vs. Reshiphlosion w/Ninetales

This game started of in a hilarious manner, as we both used Cleffa to keep on using Eeeeeeek for at least three turns each! Even funnier was that one of the other games going on next to us had the exact same thing going on as well! Anyways, other than that, I don't remember much other than that I lost this game, so we move on to Game 2.
0-1

Top 8, Game 2

I elect to go first (of course) and actually managed to set up fairly quickly. I'm able to take out Cyndaquils and Quilavas before they became Typhlosions and we move on to game 3.
1-1

Top 8, Game 3

This game was literally back and forth, but I'm able to take out his Typhlosions one by one, even after he had three out at once! This was a nail biter, but I managed to pull off a victory against a highly ranked player, and I move on to the top 4!
2-1 (Game), 5-2 overall

Two of the three other people I was with lost their games, so there were only two of us left. Unfortunately, I had to play the other person that made it, who I had lost to in the third round. The games I played in this match played out pretty much the same as they did in the third round, so I'll just say that I went 0-3 against my opponent/teammate. Ultimately they won the tournament, so I definitely would say it was a good day.

Again, I apologize for not going into great detail, but the tournament was almost two weeks ago!

__________________

I am a Pokemon TCG expert and official Pokemon Professor, so PM if you need help with anything TCG-related.

Placed 394th out of 1003 Masters at Nationals! Not bad for my first ever Nationals!

Thank you, pkolaboy! I did certainly learn a lot from that tournament. And I hope you get to compete sometime soon too
Raikou Trainer, it happened to me one time too that I had to face my friend in the top cut. It was provincials too, and our match was right at the beginning of top cut, so it sucked because one of us would be eliminated right away. I think I placed 12th or something? But it's good that your friend ended up winning, at least you can feel like you contributed to their success!

Last Saturday I went to another City Championship and actually did better than last time with the same deck! I placed 2nd this time, but as I'll talk about in my final match, it was down to the wire.

I don't really remember too many details about the games, as I'm going by memory here. It may not be the most interesting read.

Round 1
vs. Electrode/Cobalion/Kyurem

I really don't remember much about this game other than I started fairly well and stayed on top for the whole game.
1-0

Round 2
vs.Magnezone/Eelectrik/Zekrom

This is the same person who won the tournament, but my first game against him wasn't that great, so I lost.
1-1

Round 3
vs. Cobalion/Electrode/Kyurem/Terrakion

This time, I'm playing against another member of the group I mentioned last time. He had a poor start, and even got no Energy with Electrode's Energymite Poke-Power, as well as his last two Voltorb being prized! I basically dominated this game.
2-1

Again, my opponent had a terrible start, but I started with a lone Carnivine (my tech against Vileplume based decks) However, I managed to get set up relatively quickly and managed to run through his bulky Basic Pokemon with ease. He even ran Victini (V-create) and Bouffalant (Revenge), but those didn't help at all.
3-1

Round 5
vs. ??????

This match was really sad. My opponent started with a lone Bellsprout, went first, and couldn't do anything. Meanwhile, I had a Cyndaquil Active, a Fire Energy in my hand, AND PlusPower! Need I say more?
4-1

Round 6
vs. Magnezone/Eelectrik/Zekrom

Just like the last time against this deck (different player, obviously), I lost.
4-2

Because I lost my last game against a paired down opponent (in other words, I played against someone with a 3-2 record), I thought I wasn't going to make it in. However, the top 8 were announced, and I again just barely made it in the top 8 for the second tournament in a row! The person I was playing against was also the one with the Chandelure deck that I lost so horribly to last time! I definitely wanted to avenge that terrible loss, and boy did I deliver!

Top 8, Game 1
vs. Chandelure

I managed to set up a Typhlosion on turn 3, while my opponent couldn't really set up. I'm able to pick off Oddishes but he does manage to get a Vileplume out. Luckily, I had my Carnivine drag up Vileplume and let my Reshiram KO it. He scooped shortly after.
1-0

Top 8, Game 2

This game played out similarly to last game, except he never did manage to get Vileplume out, as they were prized.
2-0 (Game), 5-2 overall

Top 4

My next opponent would be the only person with Reshiphlosion that I would play against. It wasn't the person who won last time, but I knew it would be difficult. I honestly don't remember how the games went down, but I do know I won by a 2-1 margin, and in Game 3 I completely dominated. (6-2)

Top 2

My final opponent was the person I played in round 2, except this time the games were much closer. All three games I started strong, but I only won 1 of them, primarily due to him getting a Magnezone out before he lost due to lack of Basics, and was able to recover. The last game came down to time, and if I had drawn my last Junk Arm for a Catcher, I would have won!

All in all, it was a great day. Three of the five from my group (myself included) made it into the top cut, but we all lost to the same person, one after the other! Talk about an odd twist! Anyway, there's one more City Championship coming up this Saturday that I plan on attending.

Quote originally posted by Rocket_Executive:

Raikou Trainer, it happened to me one time too that I had to face my friend in the top cut. It was provincials too, and our match was right at the beginning of top cut, so it sucked because one of us would be eliminated right away. I think I placed 12th or something? But it's good that your friend ended up winning, at least you can feel like you contributed to their success!

City Championship Jan 2012
This is my first city championship with the new rotation in place, my last city I played in the last rotation and did horrible. This time I was planning to have fun and get a few wins (maybe a donk too !).

I decided to play ZPST, as it's an early game rush deck which hurts all these trainer lock decks from setting up and tries to kill basics before they can evovle.

I decided to tech a magby the night before, as it would help against the gothitelle match up. However it didn't help in the tournament since I didn't play against any gothitelle.

Round 1: 0-0
Reshiboar
I begin the game with a shaymin in the active X_X. My opponent starts off with a vulpix active and nothing on her bench, I call heads and manage to set up a first turn donk with a pachirisu ! I thought it was a best of three, so we played again, with a few turns going past, I manage to set up a zekrom with an evolite and begin to get early kos. She didn't draw that well and the luck for that round was clearly in my favour.

Round 2: 1-0
Thunderdome (Magnezone/Eels)
My familiar match up, since my playtesting buddy (Drakow) has been using the same deck. I didn't draw the catchers when I needed them, I managed to KO an early magnemite with tornadus and then he sets up a magnezone turn 2 and then another one turn 3, he gets his bench fully set up and I struggle to make a come back. It was a close game, but I struggled in the late game to recover.

Round 3: 1-1
Chandelure/Vileplume
I was expecting trainer lock in the forms of gothitelle but not this deck. It seemed like a cool deck and I started this one. I set up tornadus early with pachi/shaymin and begin to early KO his basics with catchers. He trainer locks after I've taken 2 prizes and I hold onto my supporters when I need them. It seemed he wasn't drawing into what he needed and kept playing collectors to thin his deck. I set up zekroms and start bolt striking, and his damage counter drops only fuel zekrom's outrage. I take my last prize with 2or 3 remaning on his side.

Round 4: 2-1
Chandelure/Vileplume
I start off with a good start and set up early game tornadus to KO his retreat aid pokemon. I misplay by not killing his chansey in the early game as he uses Blissy twice to heal his chandelures X_X. I may of won if I didn't make that misplay =/ as by the late game I had zekroms set up to bolt strike but they couldn't kill due to the healing antics of blissy prime.

Round 5: 2-2
Thunderdome (Drakow)
Last round I play against my buddy. He starts off by setting up his bench and I draw a bad hand and can't really set up early game tornadus. I decide to concede the game when he plays his second magnezone and sets up the eels.

Overall result: 2 Victory 3 Defeat

I had alot of fun and my lack of experience cost myself some of the games, but it happens. I'll be awaiting the next TCG set and see how that affects the metagame.

Ok so today was the official release for Next Destinies here in Honolulu, Hawaii. There were around 13 players there and 7 in the masters. I know this isn't super competitive but I figured I would go ahead and post it anyways since this thread does not recieve a lot of love.

First off, only one person pulled a Mewtwo Ex. Talk about an $80 card sitting right in front of your face (this person also pulled the Gardevior line). Grrr, I was so mad lol. I ended pulling a Regigigas Ex so I couldn't complain. The main cards that I did pull before the tournament were The Regigigas Ex, Zekrom plain, Weavile reverse, Zebsrtika plain, Cinccino reverse, Prism energy, Pokemon Center stadium, Skyarrow Bridge stadium, and two Heavy balls (lol).

Now as everone knows how hard it is to make a competitive 40 card deck out of 60 random cards (including the energies they provide). My deck consisted of:

So first round I pulled a Zekrom and Regigigas first hand and destroyed three of his pokemon until he finally knocked out my Zekrom. Then Regigigas took the last prize.

Second round I pulled the Zekrom first hand and had Regigigas on the bench by turn 4. I basically swept him 4 prizes to none.

3rd and final round I face the guy that pulled two Zapdos and one Articuno. I didn't manage to get my zekrom out until turn 4 and heavy ball couldn't reveal my Regigigas because it was prized. Meh, couldn't do anything much for this round.

I placed third seeing how only two of us were 2-1 and one was 3-0. It was fun and simple. Nobody had to worry about strategy and was basically a free for all, which was really the fun part lol. Any who, everyone got two packs for finishing. I manged to pull a reverse holo Zekrom and a lovely Shaymin Ex! I know a Zekrom Ex, Reshiram Ex, Regigigas FA Ex, Mewtwo Ex and Shaymin FA Ex were all the Ex's that were pulled. I can't wait until the release of Next Destinies Wednsday! I am banking on buying a booster box or just a tin. Let me know what I should do lol. Well I hope everyone's prerelease was full of Ex's and can't wait until Wednsday! :D

Yesterday I went to the Next Destinies prerelease. It was very exciting & i'm going to tell you how it went:

The Beginning: When my friend & I got to the prerelease we had to wait a long-ish line. After we got our POP IDs & went to a table.

The Booster Packs: After we went to a table it wasn't long until the booster packs were being handed out. My friend & i were REALLY hoping for an EX but we just got some holos & he got a Shiny Chandelure. I was really disappointed.

I built up a deck consisting of Water & Fighting Which had the following:

Round 1, the most devastating round, by opponent had a pretty strange deck but I went with the flow. This was my first ever official Pokemon TCG Battle in real life:
I went first, leading off with Lapras & with the other Lapras while my opponent had a Shinx with him. I kept on Water Arrowing Shinx while he kept on sending out Emolgas, Hippopatas, and more Shinx I didn't let him touch a prize card & won my first game with a finishing Surf! :D

Round-2 Status: 2 Wins | 0 Losses

Round 2 was pretty quick, I got Articuno as my active & had a Double colorless in my hand, while my opponenet only had some Growlithe on his bench & as his active so I beat him with ease while he had a Reshiram EX Full Art in his prizes.

For this year's States, I used EelZone with a few Zekrom-EX. Here is my record...

Battle 1 vs. Mirror (but with regular Zekrom) 0-0

This battle was really fun. I led with Zekrom-EX and Tynamo on my Bench. I had a Rare Candy, Seeker, Communication and Collector, in my hand with the rest Lightning energy... while my opponent led with Zekrom. I put on a DCE, and used Collector to get Magnemite and 2 Tynamo. I Communicated a Tynamo for a Magnezone, and finished. Turn 2, I switched to a Tynamo, evolved another Tynamo to Eelektrik, used Sage's training, got a Catcher and Junk Arm, and discarded a Juniper and 2 Lightning. I used Dynamotor to Zekrom, Rare Candied into Magnezone, used Magnetic Draw and attached another Lightning to Zekrom EX. I used the card switch on Zekrom EX, and OHKO'd Zekrom for a 1st round win.

Battle 2 vs. EelZone Lock!?!? 1-0

Magnezone Eelektrik Terrakion and VILEPLUME. That was the weirdest match ever. Using 1-0-1 Vileplume, I was able to Catcher an Oddish, and then he EVOLVED into Vileplume. Even with the lock, I KO'd the Vileplume with Lost Burn and then Wiped out two unarmed Mewtwos and a Terrakion for an easy win.

Battle 3 vs. CMT 2-0

I hate CMT. Especially with an Emboar. in there. This deck pwned me, and I had a perfect hand. Opponent had a Turn 2 Emboar, Celebi, Tornadus, and Mewtwo. OHKO'd my Zekrom EX, Magnezone, and another Zek-EX then a Catcher'd eel for a quick loss.

Finally. A 100% normal deck. I Catchered a Celebi, Glinting Clawed it KO, Lost Burned two Mewtwo EX, and had a Mischievous Punch battle with Tyrogues. I just had lucky dice rolls and an Eviolite! :3

Battle 7 vs. The Truth EX 4-2

The Trainer Lock is what killed me. I had two Tynamo, a Magnemite on the field with Magnemite active. I managed to get out a single Magnezone before the lock, but then it got OHKO'd by Mewtwo, and then the rest got OHKO'd by Kyurem EX and it's Frozen Wings. By the last turn, I literally had EVERY TRAINER CARD IN MY HAND. FAIL. If the lock wasn't there, I might have actually won. In the end, I missed the top cut by 3 spots.

Final Record: 20th place, 4-3. I was the #1 competitor in the standings with a 4-3 record. Missed top cut by 4 spots!! I managed a few Championship points, though!!

Round-4 Status: 1 Wins | 3 Losses: I was thinking of quitting last round, but I decided not to & surprisingly enough, I won against an Eel Deck, I kept on using Wartortle'sWater Arrow to defeat the Eels, Serperior'sRoyal Heal for healing up, & Emboar'sHeat Crash to destroy Zekrom FTW! :D

Round-5 Status: 2 Wins | 3 Losses: I was battling a Mewtwo Celebi Deck, I was able to set up Blastoise in time & use Cyndiquil to defeat Celebi & as soon as Mewtwo knocked out 4 of my Pokemon I used Blastoise'sHydro Launcher 2 times to the knee! Take that Mewtwo! That's revenge XD

More Coming Soon...

Today, I just went to the Dark Explorers prerelease & this time, it wasn't so bad!

The Begging: This time, I went alone. I got the standard 6 packs as usual & opened them & this time I got an EnteiEXFull Art! :D But my deck wasn't the best :/

I participated in a Battle Roads this past Saturday, and did really well, despite a major disappointment near the end. I played a Darkrai EX/Tornadus EX deck. We played six rounds with a Top 4. Seeing as this was last Saturday and I played so many games, my memory of who I played against is kind of fuzzy.

Round 1: vs. Zoroark Rush

My opponent starts with a lone Sableye, while I think I start with a Smeargle. My opponent goes first and manages to bench a Zorua and a Darkrai EX and Junk Hunts for two of the Items he used. Thanks to two Smeargle Portraits, as well as one of my own, I play three Junipers while fully powering up a Darkrai with a Dark Claw. I get Darkrai Active, Catcher up Zorua, and get my first prize on my Turn 1! I then KO Zoruas as they came down, but my opponent is able to pull off a double KO on two of my Darkrais with his own Darkrai. Luckily I had a Tornadus ready to go and took my final Prize with the Sableye I damaged earlier.

1-0

Round 2: vs. Zekeels

This game was kind of sad, as neither of us had a great setup. My opponent couldn't draw any Supporters, while my Supporters didn't get me what I needed. I was ultimately able to win thanks to cleverly not attacking their Zekrom with Darkrai until I was able to Catcher it to the Bench and put the 30 damage on it.

2-0

Round 3: vs. ??????

I honestly do not remember what I played against, or how I won, but I did.

3-0

Round 4: vs. Mono-Fighting

This game was insane! My opponent starts with a lone Landourus, while I start with a lone Smeargle. I go first, and pull off a move very similar to my Round 1 game. However, even with a fully powered (and Dark Clawed) Darkrai EX, I failed to draw the Switch I needed to get my Smeargle out of my Active spot for a donk! Luckily for me, my opponent draws poorly, and can't set up fast enough. I sweep him with my Darkrai, and didn't have to use Tornadus at all!

4-0

Round 5: vs. CMT

This was a sad game for me. My opponent started with a lone Celebi, while I started with a Shaymin active and a Mewtwo on my Bench just in case. My opponent goes first and plays a few Trainers, PONTs, and plays a Dual Ball, which gets two tails. He plays another, and manages to get one heads, which he uses to get out a normal Tornadus. He KO's my Shaymin on his turn 1, and I'm basically forced to play catch-up throughout the game. I managed to N him down to 1 card, but unfortunately he drew a Juniper with that 1 card and I lose,

4-1

Round 6: vs. Darkrai/Smeargle (no Tornadus as far as I could tell)

I knew I had to win this game in order to make it into the top cut. We both start with Smeargles, and we basically started racing to see who got their Darkrai out faster. My opponent couldn't draw the Dark Patches he needed to power up his Darkrai, while I do, so I take the early lead and basically never looked back.

5-1

I ended up as the second seed, but unknown to me at the time, my luck had run out.

Top 4: vs. Mono-Fighting (This wasn't the same person I played previously)

Game 1: I start lone Darkrai, while my opponent started lone Terrakion. I draw absolutely no Supporters whatsoever, and can't get another Basic out.

Game 2: I choose to go first, but I start slightly better, but I still couldn't draw the Energy I needed for my Tornadus. To make matters worse, I was forced to discard two Junk Arms AND two Catchers with a Portraited Juniper! Long story short, I go down in a very depressing manner. These games were so bad, they were both done in under 20 minutes!

I find out that the top seeded player lost their game, so I ended up in 4th, missing my chance at a Victory Cup card! I was not too happy about that, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

I'm hoping to rebound this Saturday, so hopefully the next one will be much better!

I'm also planning on going to my first Nationals next month. I doubt that I'll do very well there, but you never know!

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I am a Pokemon TCG expert and official Pokemon Professor, so PM if you need help with anything TCG-related.

Placed 394th out of 1003 Masters at Nationals! Not bad for my first ever Nationals!

I used Hydreigon/Darkrai. My biggest rival moved up to masters, so I thought I didn't have anything to worry about...

ROUND 1- VS: (Name forgotten) using Chomptaria

Started with Darkrai active, and two deino on the bench. KO'd three swablu on turn 2, then just kept Catchering up Gibles until I won.
1-0

ROUND 2- VS: Meto Gwambali using Zeels

He started Tynamo, i started two Darkrai. I got two dark patch turn one. used both, attached for the turn to active, Junipered, ultra balled, dark patched again, and DONKED.
2-0

ROUND 3- VS: some kid using Eels + EX attackers and one normal Zekrom

He got a whole bunch of EX's turn 2 and 3, then when I Benched Sigilyph he misplayed and benched two Mewtwos. KO'd both of em, then KO'd two eels after that.
3-0

ROUND 4- VS: Quad Terrakion

This was pretty much the only real game I played. (either that or I'm just way too good) He started Terrakion, I started Darkrai and Sableye. I kept Max Potioning and Dark Trancing around two Darkrais, and he kept sending in more bulls. I eventually lost two Darkrai's, and had two hydreigon and two sableye, with two darkness energy total. I took a risk, Benched Darkrai (we both had two prizes), and used Junk Hunt. Next turn he top decked Catcher, so I lost.
3-1

ROUND 5- VS: Peter Fisher using Zoroark/Cobalion/Bisharp/Mew-EX

Peter's been my friend for a really long time. Honestly, he's not all that good. But somehow, he was 3-1 like me. He told me that his deck was based around Cobalion and Bisharp. Basically he used Cobalion to prevent attacking so he could arm up Bisharp for a death blow with Metal Scissors. This deck would've been good for Juniors, but for Seniors? no. I simply went Speed Darkrai-style since two Hydreigons were prized. Since Peter knew he couldn't beat me, he just tried his best to annoy me I Dark Patched all four times within three turns, then alternated attackers till I won.
4-1

FINAL: 3rd Place

So, not the most intense BRs, but still pretty good. I wanted to go all out against Joe Lewis and his eels who took 2nd, and James Leung using Terrakion-EX/Mewtwo-EX/Bouffalant and took 1st... That was what I was prepping for for a week... But I still took 3rd!

EPIC BOOSTER PULLS: One kid I saw pulled two Garchomps, a reverse holo Hydreigon, AND a FA Rayquaza-EX. I pulled a FA Ho-Oh-EX, a Garchomp and Gabite, two reverse holo Bouffalant, and a reverse holo Blend Energy GFPD. Another guy bought a booster box and pulled 4 Garchomp w/mach cut, 2 Hydreigon ability, and 4 FA's.

The deck:
I decided to pilot Sigilyph as it's a rogue deck which has great potential against decks which use many EX attackers. Drakow suggested that I play the deck as it seems very basic and simple in the design. Also in previous tournaments I have played a deck with just 4 Terrakion as my Pokemon line up.
It is meant to have a strong match-up against Keldeo EX/Blastoise and Speed Darkrai but a poor match in terms of the mirror match and Hydregion.

The tournament:
Round 1:
I start with an active Mewtwo EX with my opponents Mew EX. I start by attaching a regular energy due instead of the double colorless due to the fear of revenge KO. I manage to build up my bench with Sigilyph, KO the mew EX, followed by a revenge KO by his Mewtwo EX. I then follow up with a Sigiliyph or Mewtwo EX of my own to seal the war. He was playing a-lot of different Pokemon. He had Hydregion, Mewtwo EX, Sigilyph (3) of his own. After the war I begin to catcher up and kill his remaining 2 Sigilipyh to take the last 2 prizes.
Victory 1-0

Round 2:
I begin with Mewtwo EX in my active spot again. I notice that my opponent starts with the "Shiny" Rayquaza which can attack for 40 damage for 1 electric energy. I know that Sigiliyph is bad in this match up and begin to power up 2 of my Mewtwo EX whilst removing his energy with "Crushing Hammer". He doesn't draw a supporter for 3-4 turns, whilst my Mewtwo EX runs rampage on his Tynamos and leaves him with no energy acceleration. My board is Mewtwo with DCE and another Mewtwo with DCE ready to kill the opposing Mewtwo EX (if he decides to play one). In the end I get an Eviolite on my Mewtwo EX and he has to resort to Thunder Fang for 10 damage each turn on my Mewtwo EX.
My last prize is killing the Raikou EX for my last 2 Prizes. Preventing the energy acceleration from Eeletrik by killing the enemy Tynamos seals my the victory (on top of his bad draws and no supporters)
2-0

Round 3:
I play against...the mirror match...oh joy. I begin with a Sigiliyph and start powering it up ready for the onslaught of his dying brothers and sisters. I get the early DCE attachment which is crucial and begin to kill 2 of his Siglipyhs.
He then kills my 2 Sigilyph and leaves me on a field with no energy. Ont op of that my other 2 Sigilyph are prized. Mewtwo EX won't help me and I decide to concede the game.
2-1

Round 4:
This time I play against a deck which is very dangerous and one of my worst match ups. Hydregion/Darkrai EX.
He begins with an active Deino and a Sableye (I think).
My opening hand is great but I start with Mewtwo EX. I am unsure whether or not to go aggressive with a turn 1 DCE and start attacking straight away. I didn't play this match very well as I leave my Mewtwo in the active spot for too long when I could of been attacking early.
He begins with a Sableye and just abuses Junk Hunt. He Evilotes the Sableye and I am unable to kill it with Sigilyph.
Usually my method of killing enemy Sableye is Physic + Pluspower (which I run 4 of.) He abuses the Junk Hunts whilst I try to use N to prevent him from getting the upper hand . In the end he KOs both of my Mewtwo EX and I am unable to make a come back. I have no way to kill his Pokemon and he just abuses Sableye with Max Potion and has Hydregion to move the energy (by turn 3.)
2-2

Round 5:
Another Darkrai/Hydregion deck...oh joy. I begin with Sigilyph and don't want my Mewtwo to die. I decide to try and get early KOs with my Sigilyph but it does not pay off. He just stalls until he gets set up and goes to town on my poor Sigilyph. I only take 1 prize in this game as I am able to KO an early Sableye and it just goes downhill from there.
2-3

Round 6:
I play against a familiar face which we usually see at larger events. He is playing Ho-oh EX/ Mewtwo EX and Tornadus EX and some extra Pokemon thrown in. This should be interesting. Unfortunately the start of the game does not go well for him. I start with a Mewtwo EX + DCE and start to wail on his Terrakion and Tornadus EX. I manage to catcher out his Mewtwo EX and hit for 100 damage (70 hp remaining). He is then able to KO both my Mewtwo EX but Sigilyph and a well timed "N" puts him down to 1 card to my 2 prizes. He doesn't draw the energy or cards he needs whilst I "Crushing Hammer" away a vital energy to prevent his Terrakion from using "Retaliate" to kill my last Sigilyph.

Overall Result:
3 Win 3 Loss

So I break even with my Sigilyph deck out of 6 rounds of Swiss. There was a top 8 cut and my round 3 opponent made it into the top 8 with his variant of Sigilyph. Congrats to him. I realized that the deck is not as simple as it looks. You really need to know when to play Mewtwo EX at the right time and when to use your Sigilyph. I feel my deck list needs a few more tweaking as I felt at times I needed energy or a particular card which I could of used "Skyla" for.
Also I feel this deck may be seriously hurt when "Plasma Storm" is released. If I decide to attend the European Challenge Cup. It could be the last chance for Sigilyph to make it into the top cut.
I had a fun day and managed to pick up 2 copies of "Tropical Beach" which is a card you can only get from attending the Pokemon World Championship. I can use the stadium in a Pokemon deck which requires Stage 2 Pokemon and will never be rotated out of the format ! That will be a fun project !

I was using Blastoise Keldeo (2 keldeo-ex, 4 mewtwo-ex) WEIRD LIST FTW!!!! Anyway, I actually am pretty bummed about my 5-2 ending, only because I didn't make top cut (16). Here goes!!

Round 1: Jay Yezzo-Lewis with Darkrai/Mewtwo/stuff

I start Keldeo and two Squirtle. He opens with two Darkrai. I couldn't get my Blastoise until t4, and by then, I had a Keldeo, Mewtwo, and Squirtle down. He got t1 Night Spear, and Gold Potioned like four times thanks to Sableye. So, I couldn't get ANY KO's, so to sum it all up, I lost in t7.

0-1

Round 2: Some kid with Theme Deck/one Sigilyph.

I open three mewtwo with DCE and a Squirtle. ...He opens up with a bunch of, well, stuff that is so bad it shouldn't be allowed in a tournament. LOL. I get Blastoise t2, and start hitting away at his baby basics. He sends in Siggy, I send in baby Keldeo. Triple Deluge, and WIN turn 6.

1-1

Round 3: Unknown with Eelektrik Mewtwo

I don't remember much of this match. All I remember is a Mewtwo War and a prize trade off. Except I was faster. So I won.

2-1

Round 4: A Guy From My League with Hydreigon/Darkrai.

I really need to remember names. Anyway, I start with a Keldeo, two Squirtle, and a Mewtwo. He starts with two Darkrai, a Deino, and a Mewtwo. I hit him with X Ball until he's literally 10 HP away from a KO, then he Max Potions. UGH. I do it again, except this time he Double Dark Patches and attaches a PRISM (wtf?) for a Night Spear. Misplay! X Ball, KO. Next he sends in Mewtwo and can't get energy on it. I Catcher up Deino, KO it. He sends Mewtwo again, and this time gets a KO on mine. then I send in Keldeo-EX with two water attached, retreat, send in another Mewtwo, Energy Retrieval, Deluge, DCE, X Ball. His last is a Darkrai, but that was taken care of when I Junipered into five energy. LOL win.

3-1

Round 5: Curtis Swick with Darkrai/Landorus/Mewtwo

I remember beating this guy from Arizona last year @ states, when we both ran EelZone. So, first I open up with a baby Keldeo. He Night Spears turn 1, and I juniper into a Keldeo-EX, a Squirtle, Rare Candy, and Blastoise. I bench the basics, and wait for my Keldeo to get KO'd. When it does, I send up the Keldeo with Rainbow Highlights (EX). I rare candy into Blastoise, and N. Then I dont draw into ANY energy OR supporters for the next 9000 turns. So, I end up scooping.

3-2

Round 6: I Can't remember who I played, but he was with Quad Sigilyph.

This deck is terrible when I start Kyurem and baby Keldeo. All I really did was arm them up for the whole game, and then KO a mewtwo.

4-2

Round 7: Johnny Dauti with Darkrai/Landy/Mewtwo

This was a really awesome game. I get two Blastoise, two Keldeo-EX, and two Mewtwo Turn 2. ALL ARMED WITH ENERGY. I almost t2 ohko his Landorus, but didn't get the third water. By turn 6, I had 5 prizes taken and he had taken none. He manages to hang on with his Max Potions and Energy Switch, but when I retreated to Keldeo and used two Energy Retrieval (and this part is funny) I attached 8 energy to it for a 400 Damage blow. EPIC!!!!

5-2

I wait around for the final pairings for Top Cut, but when they finally came, I was shocked. I had finished 17TH. FRICKIN 17TH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have NO IDEA how frustrating it was for me in the first few minutes. A lot of my friends got right below me, but a lot of them made the Cut. Well, at least I pulled a Computer Search in my prizes! :D

Was I the only one who hasn't gotten my official rating and points updated????

Went to two back-to-back Plasma Storm PreReleases yesterday. Didn't do that great from what I pulled, though in the first prerelease, did manage to play Skitty and get some good flips of the coin, usually getting at least 2 heads out of 3.

Played the Black Kyurem EX in the second prerelease, only managing to play it in the first round but KO'ing my opponents team quickly.

Well, that depends on the tournament and the player's age, as well as the number of participants in that player's age group at that particular tournament. At any official tournament, there are boosters given out for placing in the top 3 or so. At the 3 Regionals (Autumn, Winter, and Spring), travel packages to your country's National Championships can be won in addition to packs. At the National Championships, travel packages for Worlds can be won, and some scholarships as well for those under 18. At Worlds, even bigger scholarships can be won.

This stuff is all going off of memory, so I may have omitted some prizes simply because I forgot they exist.

Okay, in an effort to consolidate and reduce the number of sticky threads in this section, all tournament reports can be posted as their own threads or in the upcoming Pokémon Trading Card Game Daily Chit-Chat thread. I'd love to see more of people's war stories, though!

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